Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) lets a parked electric vehicle send energy back to the grid. The standards that make it possible now exist, and European regulation has started to frame it. Commercial deployment is still limited, and no official figure for the number of V2G vehicles in service was found. This article states what is in place and what an operator should check before planning around it.
The standards that carry V2G
Two layers matter.
Certification is a separate step. Edition 2 of OCPP 2.1, published on 4 December 2025, adds the certification profiles and test cases. We found no Open Charge Alliance page announcing an open certification programme for 2.1 products, so do not assume a given charger is certified for it. Ask for proof.
What the regulation says
Regulation is permissive, not prescriptive. AFIR defines bidirectional recharging and asks Member States to assess, by 30 June 2024 and every three years after, the contribution of smart and bidirectional charging to flexibility, including the balancing market. It does not make V2G mandatory, and a recital leaves operators free to offer smart and bidirectional functions according to the options in the standards.
From 1 January 2027, Delegated Regulation 2025/656 requires at least ISO 15118-20 on public points installed or renovated from that date. That brings the bidirectional-capable protocol into new hardware, but it does not oblige anyone to export energy.
The renewable energy directive (RED III) asks Member States to let electric vehicles take part in markets, including congestion management, flexibility and balancing, also through aggregation. The EPBD requires charging points covered by its article 14 to support smart and, where appropriate, bidirectional charging with non-proprietary protocols.
What pilots and market rules show
Sourced evidence is thin and mostly from press. In Utrecht, a project announced on 27 November 2024 planned 500 Renault 5 vehicles with V2G technology in a car-sharing scheme, using bidirectional chargers. The partners estimated that 500 cars would supply about 10 % of the flexibility the region needs at peak hours. Treat this as a project estimate, not a measured result.
In Germany, the Bundestag voted on 13 November 2025 to end the double charging of grid fees on electricity fed back from an EV battery, effective 1 January 2026, according to The Mobility House. This is a market-rule barrier removed, and, in our view, it matters more to the business case than another hardware announcement.
Commercial V2G offers from carmakers and utilities have been announced in Europe. Treat them as announced, not deployed, until the supplier confirms availability in your market.
Interoperability is the practical risk
A V2G session needs the vehicle, the charger, the CSMS and the energy supplier to agree. OCPP 1.6 and 2.0.1 are not compatible, so the version your fleet of chargers runs decides what you can do. Industry estimates of flexibility are large: Eurelectric projects about 114 TWh of EV battery capacity by 2030, around 4 % of annual European demand. It is an industry estimate, not a Commission figure.
This week
Check which of your chargers support ISO 15118-20 and which OCPP version they run. Ask suppliers for certification evidence, not a roadmap. Ask your energy supplier whether it offers a dynamic price contract: under Directive 2019/944, suppliers with more than 200 000 customers must offer one to customers with a smart meter. GFO Omni is a CSMS supporting OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 and 2.1 that supervises charge points.